Wednesday, July 05, 2006 1:58 AM

Hand Evaluation – Forcing Pass ( Major Games )

PITBULLS:

Reviewing the Vanderbilits , Spingolds and World championships for the last 25 years, One horrible Bridge flaw occurs time & time again in initial competitive auctions. Leaping to game in a major with a strong hand by either partner ! This jump is an ambiguous bid so does not turn on forcing passes. When the opponents bid again , partner is poorly placed & has no idea what is going on. The game bidder is theoretically captain of the auction unless game was bid by a limited hand or as a pre-empt. Opener ( game bidder ) must make the decision for the partnership when they bid again. When your plan was to lay a trap for the opponents when they intrude again , by all means jump to game with a good hand. In a disciplined partnership , a jump to game ( fast arrival ) by opener or responder is always pre-emptive. When not pre-emptive , the rules default to captaincy. The unlimited hand ( game bidder) vrs the limited hand just means the game bidder controls the auction. No forcing pass.

Here is an example from the Vanderbilt. Partner opens 1♣ , you respond 1♥ on ♠A ♥10987x ♦AJ10 ♣Q10xx , partner bids 2♥ with RHO vul vrs not backs in with a double . What do you do ? In my mind you have game in hearts but you should tell partner you “own this auction” by redoubling. The player leapt to 4♥ nv vrs vul so when they bid 4♠ , partner did not think forcing passes were on so he passed. This player thought he had a nice two suited fit, so he single handedly guessed to bid 5♥ was doubled & went down one. Lose 12 IMPS.

Partner had a real dog , so with forcing pass theory, he would have doubled 4♠ in a flash. ♠Qx ♥KQJx ♦Qx ♣KJ98x 4♠X goes 2 down for +500 with an outside chance of +800 . When you do not turn on forcing passes , high level decision become a guessing game. We hate guessing !

When partner overcalls & you have a good hand , do not jump to a major game when you may need help from partner if they interfere. Q bid first, to turn on forcing passes , as this is initially a competitive auction. They may bid again so be kind to partner by bringing her into the picture.. Some people play that jumping to a vulnerable game turns on forcing passes in any type of auction but I do not buy it. Why are you in such a hurry ? My partner likes jumping to vul games to make because he wants to jam nv opponents out of their sacrifice. However , you do also get dealt distributional hands suitable for a pre-emptive leap to game vul . How does partner tell the difference ? Q bidding first makes sense to me , so let them find their sacrifice. At least we are prepared for it , with forcing pass theory.

Jumping to game opposite a T/O double needs discussion. I think this should always be interpreted as a shot so is not done with a good hand on 3 vulnerabilities. A courtesy Q bid first , to tell partner you own the auction , followed by a leap to game. Now forcing passes are turned on. In this specific T/O double auction , there is a case to be made that a leap to a vul game vrs nv opponents automatically turns on forcing passes. Frankly, I feel jumping to game with a good hand throws partner off in a number of ways. She may not have a shape T/O double so was counting on equal level conversion to get out. She does not know whether you are making a tactical or pre-emptive bid, so slams will be missed. What is the hurry , when you have a good hand ? Even if there are no opponents in the auction , a jump to game should mean distribution as you are pre-empting partner ( fast arrival ) . In a competitive auction , the jump bid may be an advance sacrifice or a plain tactical bid. Partner must be informed of the difference somehow. Kantar & Kokish disagree on this point. Kantar says the vulnerability turns on forcing passes & Kokish says how you arrive at your vulnerable game turns on forcing passes.

Opposite a T/O double only , I agree with Kantar because the Q bid is just too overworked. I like a jump to game vul vrs not to show a strong single suited hand & turns on forcing passes. This means that the Q bid would imply 2 suits or just showing strength & groping on this one vulnerability only.  I just do not like the concept of jumping to game vul as a pre-empt against nv opponents. In other words , we side with Kantar.